Maybe the Vancouver Giants took their emotions out on the Medicine Hat Tigers?

The Giants, who were a sombre bunch after finding out that veteran forward Joel Hamilton had been traded Friday afternoon, followed that up by defeating the very capable Medicine Hat Tigers 5-3 Friday night before a crowd of 5,709 at the Pacific Coliseum.

The Giants sent Hamilton to the Kamloops Blazers in exchange for a 2017 sixth-round bantam pick, then sent forward prospect Johnny Wesley to the Lethbridge Hurricanes for forward Zane Jones. The Blazers also sent forward Mike Winther to Lethbridge for a 2017 eighth round selection.

Hamilton, Jones and Winther are all overages. The WHL trade deadline is Saturday at 11 a.m. PST.

“Anytime you have a player traded before a game, your mind is going to be all screwed and I wasn’t sure how we were going to respond to that,” said Giants veteran forward Dalton Sward. “I thought we handled it well and got our mind set.

“We didn’t get the first goal, which was what we wanted to do, but we answered right back, and, from that point, I think we took control of the game.”

Sward and Mason Geertsen both had one goal and one assist for the winners. Single goals went to Matt Bellerive, Jesse Roach and Carter Popoff. Medicine Hat forward Trevor Cox, a Surrey native who came into the night as the WHL’s leading scorer, had one goal and one helper. Vancouver seemed to be able to handle Medicine Hat’s ample speed and shiftiness. The Tigers were coming off 3-2 win in Victoria on Thursday night to open a three-game B.C. road swing, and they had been stuck for a couple of days in Revelstoke due to a snowstorm. Still, this was a elite-level team that came into the night having won four in a row and seven of eight. Even with the defeat, the Tigers (28-10-1-1) were nine points up on the Red Deer Rebels atop the Central Division. Vancouver (19-20-1-1) moved to one point in back of the Prince George Cougars (20-22-1-0) for third spot in B.C., with two games in hand. “I thought were resilient in the game,” said Giants coach Claude Noel. “I thought there were some moments where we could have been fairly anxious. “I thought we managed the game better than we have.” In the trade, the Giants are moving out a 5-foot-10, 179-pound Hamilton, who had 27 points, including 10 goals, in 40 games with Vancouver and they’re moving in a 6-foot-3, 210-pound Jones, who had 30 points, including 18 goals, in 37 games with Lethbridge. Vancouver GM Scott Bonner has talked up adding size for some time now. He feels Vancouver is too easy to play against on the road. Hamilton had just two points — both assists — on the road. By going to Kamloops, he’s reunited with coach Don Hay. Hamilton was one of the best Giants down the stretch and into the playoffs under Hay last season. In Jones, Vancouver is adding a guy who has bounced around. He was a fifth-round pick of the Chilliwack Bruins in 2009 and played his first game against the Giants in Chilliwack as a call-up on Jan. 2, 2011. Vancouver won that game 6-2. He went with the Bruins franchise when it moved to Victoria, and then he made stops with the Calgary Hitmen and Everett Silvertips before coming to Lethbridge. In Calgary, he lived for a time with Vancouver defenceman Josh Thrower, who was also a member of the Hitmen at the time. “He’s a good player and he’s a good guy,” said Thrower. ‘”He’s a heavy, big guy. He goes to the net hard. He puts the puck in the net. He does what the coach tells him. “He’s going to fit perfect here.” Reached via text, Jones said he was “beyond excited,” about the chance to be back in the playoff hunt. “I can’t wait to battle,” he said. As for his style, he says he’s keen on banging and crashing. In 228 career WHL regular season games, he has 66 goals, 68 assists and 208 penalty minutes. “I enjoy playing a big game,” explained Jones. Vancouver is in Portland Saturday. Jones said that he was flying out of Calgary to Seattle Saturday. No word on whether he’ll make the game.

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